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No Model.) 4 sheets-sheet 1.

J. F. PLACE. BOAT PRoPULsIoN.

No. 538,278. Patented Apr. 30, 1895.

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'4 sheets-sheet 2.

. J. F. PLACE.

BOAT PRoPULsIoN.

(No Model.)

Patented Apr. 30, 1895.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. F. PLAGE.

BOAT PROPULSION.

Patented Apr. 80, 1895.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. F. PLAGE.

BOAT PRoPULsIoN.

(No Model.)

Patented Apr. 80, 1895.

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JAMES F. PLACE, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOCHARLES S. UPTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

`BOAT PROPULSION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 538,278, dated April30, 1895.

Serial No. 508,639. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES F. PLACE, acitizen of the United States,residing at Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boat Propulsion;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the propulsion of vehicles; and while it may be'applied to the propulsion of vehicles upon land, it is more especiallyintended to be applied to the propulsion of boats upon canals or otherwaterways.

In my invention, in order to avoid the necessity of using a screwpropeller, the boat is towed by a car traveling on a track which may belocated upon the bank of the canal or water-way, or may be suspendedover such water-way. With a view to making this car as light aspossible, so that a light and easily constructed track may be employed,I locate the motor or engine by which the car is propelled upon the boatitself, and provide means for transmitting the motion of this motorvtothe wheels of the car; and in order to give the car great tra'ctivepower, I provide means for causing the wheels thereof to grip the trackrails tightly.

I may use many different forms of motors, such, for instance, as steam,gas, or oil engines,

`or even, under some circumstances, wind motors; but I contemplateparticularly the use of electric motors, and in the drawingsaccompanying this specification such an electric motor is shown.

My invention consists in the novel means used for propelling thevehicle, in the novel construction of the propelling car, in the novelmeans and mechanism for transmitting motion from the motor to the wheelsof said car, in the novel construction of the track upon which the cartravels, and in the novel mechanism employed for towing the boat fromthe car.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a light, cheap, andeasily constructed track upon which the towing or traction car cantravel; second, to provide a car suitable for traveling on the track,and which shall be strong and as light as possible; third, to providemeans forcausing the wheels of said car to grip the track positively,thereby securing increased traetive power for the car; fourth, toprovide means for transmitting the motion of the motor on the Vehicle tothe wheels of said towing car; tifth, to provide suitable mechanism forcausing the motion ot' the car to propel the vehicle, and, sixth, tomake the Whole mechanism strong, durable, simple, easy of application toany of the canals and canal boats now in use, and as inexpensive aspossible. These objects are attained in the invention herein described.and illustrated in the drawings which accompany and form a part of thisapplication, in which the same reference numerals indicate the same orcorresponding parts, and in which- Figure l is a plan view showing aportion of a canal with tracks on both sides thereof, a boat within thecanal and atowing or traction car therefor on one of the tracks, and aconducting wire and trolley for conveying electric current to anelectro-motor on the boat. Fig..2 is a cross-section of the canal and ofthe boat therein, showing particularly the position of the motor withinthe boat and the means for transmitting motion therefrom tothe wheels ofthe traction car. Fig. 3 is a side elevation and partial section of thetraction car, the sectional part of the figure showing how the wheels ofthe car are caused to grip the track rails. Fig. 4 is an end elevationof the traction car; and Fig. 5 is a transverse section 'of the same onthe line 5 of Fig. 3. Fig 6 is a plan View and partial section ofV thetraction car, the section being taken on the line 6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 isa sectional elevation taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. Sis a sideelevation of the support for the motor, showing how the position of themotor may be adjusted vertically; and Figs. 9 and l0 are respectively anend elevation and a plan viewof the same. Fig. 1l is a detail View ofthe coupling used for attaching the towing rope or rod to the boat; andFig. 12 shows a lexiblelshaft which may be substituted for the shaftwith universal joints which transmits motion from the motor to thetraction car.

IOO

In the drawings, 1 1 are the two banks of thecanal.Inthebanks,atsuitableintervals, are driven piles 2, 2, supportinghorizontal ties 3, 3. The piles and ties form a framework for supportingthe rails upon which the traction cars run; but this framework of coursemay be constructed in any desired or customary manner. It willordinarily be buried somewhat below the surface of the earth, as show u,

so that the use of the banks of the canal for.

tow paths may not be interfered with. Secured to the framework arebrackets 4, 4, to the ends of which are fastened the rails 5, 5, uponwhich the-traction cars travel. The rail may he of various forms, butthe form of rail shown in the drawings seems to be especially suitable.It has a cross-section similar to that of ordinary channel iron, theshorter sides forming the tread surfaces of the rail.

6 is a boat within the canal, and may be of any ordinary construction.

7 is the traction car, traveling on the rails 5, by which the boat ispropelled. As has been previously outlined, this traction car receivesits motion from a suitable motor 8, which will usually be an electricmotor, but may be a steam, oil, or gas engine, which motor is located onthe boat itself. The traction car is most clearly shown in Figs. 3 to 7inclusive, to which attention is now directed. The car consists of aframe and casing, 9, in which are journaled wheels 10,11, 12, and 13,above the rail 5, and wheels 14,1516, and 17, below the rail. Of thesewheels, those at the ends, that is, 10, 13, 14, and 17, are guide wheelswhich keep the car on the track, while 11, 12, 15, and 1G are gripwheels, which may be caused to press against and so to grip the rails,thereby securing increased tractive power for the car. The guide wheelsat the ends of the car are provided with fianges which overlap the sidesof the rail, and the central or grip wheels will usually be providedwith similar flanges, though if desired these wheels may be formedwithout flanges.

The grip wheels 11 and l5, and 12 and 16, are geared together by spurgears 18, 18, and are thus caused to rotate together. The two lower spurwheels, 18,18, intermesh with a pinion 19 on a shaft 20. Through thisshaft motion is communicated from th'e motor 8 on v the boat to thepinion 19, and so through the gear wheels 1S to the grip wheels, thuscausing the car to move forward.

In order to permit the use of a light track, and in order to preventexcessive wear of this track, it is necessary to make the traction caras light as possible; and inasmuch as the weight of the car will not besufficient ordinarily to givo enough tractive force to move a heavilyloaded boat, it is necessary to provide special means forobtainingincreased tract ive power without increasing the weight of themotor. To this end, the journal boxes of the two lower grip wheels 15and 16 are made vertically movable, and are supported by a yoke 21, seenin Figs. 3, 5, and 7. A screw 22 bears against the bottom of this yoke,and a spring 23 tends to press the screw upward, and so to press thegrip wheels 15 and 1G against the bottom of the rail 5. By turning thescrew 22 the strength of the pressure against the rail may be adjustedas desired.

Motion is communicated from the shaft of the motor to the pini )n shaft20 of the traction car by means of a shaft 24. In order to make dueallowance for inevitable changes in the relative positions of the boatand traction car, this shaft 2l is connected to the motor shaft and tothe pinion shaft 2O by means of universal joints, as is shown in Figs. 1and 2.

in the drawings, the motor shown for propeiling the boat is an electricmotor, which receives its current from an overhead conductingwire 25suspended over the canal in the same manner that the conducting wires ofelectric street railways are usually suspended; but other means ofsupplying current to the motor may be used if desired. The boat isprovided with an ordinary trolley pole 26, and a wire 27, to which maybe connected a suitable circuit controller and speed regulator 28 forcontrolling the speed of thenlotor, conducts the current from thetrolley to the motor. The return cir-cuit may be through the motorshaft, shaft 24:, pinion shaft20, the traction car 7, and the rails 5,in which case an increased tractive power duc to the passage of thecurrent through the wheels of the car 7 to the rails will be obtained,or the current may be grounded by connecting the motor with almetallicplate placed on the outside of the boat in contact with the water in thecanal.

The relative positions of the motor on the boat and traction car willdiffer considerably according as the boat is loaded or unloaded. Whilethe universal joints of the shaft 21 will permit of considerable changeof position of the motor without interfering materially with thetransmission of power, still it is very desirable that the motor and carshall always be as nearly in line as possible,so that too much strainmay not be thrown upon the parts of the universal joints. Therefore I donot secure the motor directly to the frame-work of the boat, but secureit to a suitable framework upon which it may be adjusted vertically.

The framework forsupporting themotor is shown in Figs. 8, 9, and l0, andconsists, essentially, of two vertical guides, 29, secured to theframework of the boat, and provided with suitable braces 30. The polepieces 31 of the motor are provided with projections adapted to slide onthese guides and are arranged to be secured thereto at any desiredposition by means of bolts or pins passing through the guides 29. 'lothe front side of the pole pieces is secured a plate 32, which must beof some non-n1agnetic metal such as bronze so that it may notshort-circuit the magnetic field, and this plate is provided withprojecting lugs through screw-holes in which IID lss

passes a vertical screw 33, suitably supported,

f by turning which the motor may be raised or lowered. In adjusting theposition of the motor the bolts securingitto theguides 29 are removed,so as to leave thelnotor free to slide up and down, and the screw 33 isturned by means of the hand wheel 34 or by other suitable means, raisingor lowering the motor until it has reached the desired position. Themotor is then bolted to the guides 29 as before.

If desired, suitable gearing connecting the shaft of the motor with thescrew 33y may be provided so that `the motor may be caused to raise andlower itself.

The apparatus for communicating the inotion of the traction ear 7 to theboat is best shown in Fig. l. A rope 35 is secured to the boat, at apoint near the stern, and to the rear end of the traction car. This isthe towing rope. Another rope 36, to which preferably should beconnected a strong spring 37, connects the bow of the boat with thetraction car, and performs the double function of preventing the boatfrom running by the car when the motor is stopped, and of preventing thebow of the boat from swinging outward, which it would otherwise do,since it is towed from the stern. f

To prevent the stern of the boat from swinging either inward or outward,there is pivoted to the boat, at a point near the stern, a centrallyapertured block 38, through which passes a rod 39. Buffer springs 40 and41 bear against the ends of the block 38 and against adjustableprojections on the rod 39. The rod 39 is connected to a trail car 43 onthe rail 5, which trail car is connected with and receives its motionfrom the traction car 7 by means of a rod'44. If the stern of the boatfor any reason commences to swing, one of the springs 40 or 4l will becompressed, thus checking such movement.

The trail car 43 is in general similar to thetraction car 7, but isshorter and smaller, having no grip wheels and no connection with anymotor.

It will be seen that by the apparatus just described the boat is heldparallel to the rails and the relative positions of the boat andtraction car remain substantially the same at all times, the car beingprevented from running ahead or falling behind the boat. The rod 39-likewise prevents the stern of the boat' from swinging inward, andshould there ever be a tendency for the bow of the boat to swing inward,the shaft 24 and motor shaft will be able to withstand sufficientthrusting pressure -to resist this.

If desired, rigid rods may be substituted for the ropes 35 and 36, inwhich case it would be impossible for the bow of the boat to swing in.

In order to provide for the ready uncoupling of the ropes or rods 35 and36, they may be provided, at least at the ends which connect with theboat, with couplings such as shown in Fig. l1, which are opened bypressing backward a sliding pin.

This construction is common, and needs -no detailed description. At theends where these ropes or rods connect with the car 7, they will usuallybe provided with rings which may be placed between lugs 45, 45,projecting from the frame of the car, as shown in Fig. 3, and a couplingpin 46 may then be passed through holes `in these lugs and through thering.

To detach the shaft 24 from the pinion shaft 20, the latter shaft may beprovided with any ofthe ordinary shaft couplings by which a limb of oneof the universal joints of the shaft 24 may be connected to said pinionshaft.

If desired, the shaft 24 with universal joints at the ends thereof maybe replaced by a flexible shaft of any usual or ordinary construction,such as that shown in Fig. l2. In such case no universal joints arenecessary. If a iexible shaft is used,itis necessary that some means beprovided for keeping the boat so far out frointhe bank of the canal thatthe flexibleshaft may be nearly straight at all times. This may beeffected by using rigid rods for the connections 35 and 36, as alreadysuggested, or a rod such as 39, with buffer springs, may be placed nearthe bow of the boat and connected to the traction car 7 in the samemanner that the rod 39 is connected with the trail car-43.

Ordinarily it will be desirable to have the rails 5 at nearly the levelof the bank of the canal, so as not to interfere with the tow lines ofboats pulled by horses. In the drawings I have shown the track soplaced. Where the track isplaced low down, however, when a boat isunloaded and floats high in the water the motor will have to be loweredconsiderably below-the deck of the boat in order to bring the motorshaft down to the level of the pinion shaft 20. It is necessary,therefore, that there should be an opening in the side of the boatthrough which the shaft 24 may pass. This opening need not be wide, sothat it will not weaken the boat. When the boat is so low down in thewater that the shaft 24 may pass above the deck of the boat, thisopening in the side of the boat may be closed by a suitable shutter orcover 47, shown in Fig. 2, which may be provided with suitablefastenings to hold it in place and clamp itdown firmly so as to preventthe entrance of water.

The operation of my invention is as follows:-ln connecting the tractioncar to the boat, the traction car, with its trail car behind it, ismoved up alongside the boat and to a point opposite the motor. The bowand stern lines 36 and 35 are then put in place and the stern rod 39connect-ed with the trail car. The position of the motor is thenadjusted vertically byturning the screw 33, as previously explained,until the motor shaft is IOO IIO

IZO

in line with the pinion shaft of the traction car, and the shaft 24 isconnected to said pinion shaft. By turning the screw 22 the pressure ofthe grip wheels against the rails is adjusted so as to give the requiredtractive power for pulling the boat. The trolley is then brought intocontact with the conducting wire. When the circuit of the motor iscompleted through the switch 28 the motor shaft is caused to revolve,communicating motion through the shafts 24 and 20, pinion 19, and gearwheels 1S to the grip wheels of the car, thus causing the same to moveforward, and pull the boat along. The car may be separated from the boatby reversing the operations j ust described.

Having thus completely described my invention, what I claim, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a system of boat propulsion,the cornbination, with a boat upon awater-Way, and a track beside said Water-Way, of a car on said trackarranged to move said boat, a motor on said boat, means for adjustingthe position of the motorwithin the boat to correspond with the positionof the car, and means for connecting the motor to the car to givemovement thereto, substantially as described.

2. In a system of boat propulsion, the combination, with a boat upon awater-Way, and a track beside said Water-Way, of a car on said trackarranged to move said boat, a motor on `said boat, means for adjustingvertically the bination, with a boat upon a water-Way, and

a track beside said water-Way, of a car on said track arranged to movesaid boat, a motor.` on said boat, vertical guides for said motor, meansfor adjusting the position of said motor upon said guides, and means forconnecting the motor with the car to give movement thereto,substantially as described.

4. In a system of boat propulsion, the combination, with a boat upon awater-Way, and a track beside said Water-way, of a car on said trackarranged to move said boat, a motor on said boat, vertical guides forsaid motor, a screw for moving said motor up and down upon said guides,and means for connecting the motor with the car to give movementthereto, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAS. F. PLACE.

Vitnesses:

M. W. HAWEs, H. J. KEIsER.

